View full sizeMatt Eich/The OregonianHealth care reforms begin kicking in this year, with possible help for high-risk insurance and for early retirees.

After years of rapid growth in health care spending, the recession and cost-sharing appear to have slowed that growth.

The final tally on national health spending in 2010 shows relatively
small growth, just 3.9 percent, mirroring the 2009 mark of 3.8 percent,
according to officials with the federal Centers for Medicare &
Medicaid Services.

The numbers suggest that while the recession officially ended in 2009, its impact
appears to be continuing, according to an article published in the
January issue of the journal Health Affairs by CMS officials. The
statistics describe a simple phenomenon: people were slower to fill
prescriptions and visit doctors and hospitals.

Those numbers mirror results in Oregon, where health insurers continue a
pattern of ratcheting back rate hikes due to reduced claims -- perhaps
because "people couldn't afford to get their health care," as a state
insurance division spokeswoman, Cheryl Martinis, recently noted.

"The problem is nobody knows how long it will last or when it will go
back up, if there is pent-up demand for medical services, that sort of
thing," she said.

What follows is a roundup of related news, including a detailed take on
the CMS findings from the American Medical Association's news site:

Spending growth on physician services sinks to record low (American Medical News)
Some health care analysts have suggested that physician office visits
might not rebound to pre-recession levels even as the economy improves.
For example, office visits decreased by 2.7% in the six months ending in
September 2011, according to an October 2011 report by JP Morgan Chase.